"Mm~" Pardo enjoyed Elysia's cheek-pinching for a while before retreating backward. Quantization occurred at that exact moment, allowing her to escape Elysia's grasp.
"Random quantization?" Vill-V, suddenly switching to a calmer voice, walked over. "Can it be controlled? Or is it in a state that cannot be controlled at all?"
"I can't, Sister Vill-V." Pardo shook her head. She was simply lucky; every instance of quantization happened to not endanger her life and allowed her to dodge attacks just right. Yes, just good luck.
"Is that so? However, if that's the case, it seems a bit troublesome." Vill-V nodded. Although Pardo's luck had always been good, continuing like this wasn't a solution.
As a kitten returning home, Vill-V decided to make a gift for Pardo. She had no ideas for removing the condition, but stabilizing Pardo's state should be achievable. Going a step further, allowing Pardo to master the quantization autonomously should also be possible.
Although she hadn't researched this before, it was still not too late. After all, she was the Almighty Vill-V; this level of difficulty wasn't even considered a challenge for her.
"B-but I am a soul." Pardo scratched her head. Even if Vill-V really made some device, would it be useful for her in soul form?
"It will come in handy sooner or later." Vill-V nodded. "Anyway, come with me. I need to properly study your current state to custom-make..."
In the next moment, Vill-V's tone suddenly changed, becoming more cheerful, even flamboyant: "After all, this is a great magic prop personally crafted by the Great Vill-V~"
"Ah, she switched to the Magician Sister Vill-V." Pardo recognized at a glance that Vill-V had switched to her social phobia Magician personality—or rather, the 'Social Terrorist'.
"What's wrong, my dear Pardo?" The Magician looked at Pardo. "This is a gift the Great Vill-V has prepared for you. Are you unwilling to accept it?"
"No, no." Pardo waved her hands. Based on her experience, it was better not to defy Sister Vill-V too much at times like this, otherwise, there was no telling what she might do.
"Then come with me." Vill-V reached out, grabbed Pardo, and walked toward the direction of the Helix Workshop. The current Vill-V was in high spirits. She believed that if Pardo could perfectly control quantization, she would certainly be able to perform a magnificent Great Escape magic trick.
"Oh my, Vill-V is as willful as ever." Elysia stood in place, smiling as she watched Vill-V drag Pardo away.
The Realm's Pardo scratched her head and chose to follow. She still had a lot to say to her other self. Besides, sometimes when the Magician Vill-V worked, things could get quite terrifying.
Kevin glanced at Pardo being dragged away, then retracted his gaze. He believed Vill-V wouldn't do anything too outrageous. Right now, he still needed to pay attention to this peculiar successor.
However, before Kevin could speak, Elysia had already welcomed them with a smile. She still remembered that there was another beautiful girl who hadn't been introduced yet.
"And who is this lady with the cool temperament?" Elysia looked at Lixue. Although Lixue's appearance was somewhat similar to Hua's, Elysia's gaze traced over Lixue's chest without leaving a trace.
As for what she saw, it naturally didn't need to be said. Based on this alone, she could determine that the girl before her was definitely not Hua—although this thought was a bit apologetic to Hua.
Before Irene could introduce her, Lixue bowed to everyone: "This junior is Cheng Lixue, a disciple of Master Hua."
As soon as Lixue spoke, everyone's eyes immediately turned to Hua, who was standing quietly behind the group. At this moment, a trace of surprise also appeared on Hua's originally calm face. She hadn't expected that she would actually have a disciple in the future.
"If that's the case, then Hua is still alive right now." Elysia clapped her hands, immediately thinking of a key point. According to what Irene said earlier, although they came from another world, there were ultimately similarities. If Lixue was Hua's disciple, then in other words, Hua must have lived until now to be able to accept a disciple.
"Mm, correct." Irene nodded. "Hua is indeed still alive right now, but... Hua's condition isn't very good."
"Did something happen?"
"It's more like, how much has happened." Irene shook her head, her tone somewhat heavy. "Mm, to put it simply, Hua currently doesn't remember any of you."
Once Irene said this, everyone fell into silence. Hua herself sighed: "Is it because of Fenghuang Down? But, why would I forget everyone?"
The cost of using the First Rated Power of Fenghuang Down was the incineration of memory. She knew this clearly; or rather, it was precisely because of this that Fenghuang Down was given to her.
Because the price Hua paid as a MANTIS was Hyperthymesia—she would remember absolutely everything she saw, heard, and knew in excruciating detail.
It sounded wonderful, but in reality, this caused a tremendous burden on Hua. Not just a burden on the brain, but a burden on the spirit. It wasn't just happy memories; those sad memories would also exist forever in Hua's mind, constantly swirling. This actually exerted immense pressure on Hua's mental state.
And the problem was, back in the Previous Era, how many things were there worth being happy about, and how much sadness had Hua experienced?
It was precisely because of this that after Fenghuang Down was created, it was given to Hua. From a utilitarian perspective, Hua's Hyperthymesia could provide a super abundance of fuel for Fenghuang Down. From a perspective of care, Fenghuang Down's function of burning memories could also effectively alleviate the mental pressure Hua suffered due to Hyperthymesia.
But the memories Fenghuang Down burned could be chosen. Under what circumstances did she have to choose to burn away her memories of everyone to fight?
"Mm, Irene, do you know what happened?" Elysia leaned next to Irene. From Irene's tone just now, she could tell that Irene seemed to understand Hua's current state quite well.
"If you all want to know, I can tell you." After Irene looked at everyone and nodded, she simply narrated the story of Hua that she knew.
*
Meanwhile, on the other side. Outside Mobius's Laboratory.
Kalpas crossed his arms, staring silently at the metal door behind him. Beside him was Sakura, who looked worried but didn't know what to do.
Kalpas had come over on his own accord. He knew very well that he would be useless if he went inside, so he just came here to camp out on Mobius, to stop her in case she wanted to pull something.
Sakura standing outside wasn't for any special reason; it was simply that she had originally gone in with them, but after a short while, Mobius despised her for not knowing anything and kicked her out.
"Rin..." Sakura looked at the laboratory door with worry. She wanted to go in, but she was afraid of disturbing Mobius's research.
"Worrying here is useless," Kalpas spoke up at this moment. "Instead of worrying here, it's better to go in and rush that woman."
"I..." Sakura opened her mouth, moving slightly, but stopped again. "No, I still can't... Kalpas, you know what happened after that, right?"
Sakura looked at Kalpas. She was aware that everyone knew something, but no one had told her, and she hadn't explored it before. But now, Sakura was ready. She had to know what exactly she did back then, and whether she had fulfilled her duty as an elder sister.
She had to know: what exactly did she do?
Kalpas crossed his arms and remained silent. Of course he knew what had happened. It was precisely because he knew that he was so angry at Aponia. It could be said that it was because of that woman's Discipline that things became so terrible. If not for that woman's Discipline, everything shouldn't have developed to that stage.
But Kalpas didn't know if he should tell Sakura, because Rin's final tragic state was truly too cruel for Sakura.
"Please tell me, Kalpas." Sakura looked straight at Kalpas's mask, her eyes filled with determination. "I must know. What did I do back then? What happened? Please."
"Tch..."
*
Inside Mobius's Laboratory.
"Mm, Doctor." Klein handed the report Danzhu had just organized regarding the current status of the Corruption virus replicants to Mobius. "Currently, no obvious differences have been found."
"Which means if there are differences, then they cannot be used directly." Mobius took the report and scanned it a few times, confirming that the Corruption virus currently constituting Rin's body and the Corruption virus she had previously collected from the Black Box indeed had differences.
Since that was the case, directly using this type of Corruption virus carried risks. She didn't want anything to happen to Rin. After all, Rin's matter was indeed a regret for them, and Mobius didn't like such things.
Moreover, if she messed up this time and something happened to Rin, that powder keg and Sakura would probably give her no peace, which would be very detrimental to her subsequent experimental schedule.
And she was Mobius; how could she allow for errors in such matters?
"But Doctor, the error looks very small to me." Just then, the laboratory door opened, and Danzhu walked in holding the organized simulation data for the Corruption virus fusion. "Judging from the simulation results, it seems to be going quite smoothly."
"How can this kind of simulation result count?" Mobius didn't even glance at the simulation test Danzhu handed over. "If you looked carefully, you would find that all Corruption virus material bodies possess consistency."
"In other words, if they can adapt to Rin, they should be identical to Rin. However, they are different. Since that is the case, they cannot be classified as the same type of Corruption virus."
"Eh?" Danzhu was slightly stunned. She really hadn't paid attention to what Mobius said. After all, in her view, the Corruption virus was a product of the Honkai, and since so much time had passed, it was normal for changes to occur.
Furthermore, those changes were very minute. Theoretically speaking, this kind of error should be considered negligible.
They had just attempted to fuse a bit of the Corruption virus extracted from Rin's body with the replicant, and judging from the simulation results, they indeed got along quite smoothly.
"The viruses can certainly get along smoothly, but Rin might not." Mobius looked at Danzhu and shook her head. In the end, Danzhu was just an all-rounder, but she indeed hadn't truly been in contact with research regarding the Corruption virus.
What was important right now wasn't the Corruption virus, but the soul of Rin carried within the Corruption virus. The replicant virus was extracted by her from the Black Box. Since that was the case, those viruses should rightfully belong to the Herrscher personality born from Rin's resentment.
Admittedly, replenishing the virus would be simple; she could just pour all these replicants into Rin's body right now. But the problem didn't lie there. The problem lay in the fact that Rin still had to be Rin; they couldn't repeat the tragedy of the past.
"You go process the other tasks I distributed to you first." Mobius waved her hand to dismiss Danzhu. Hearing about the previously assigned tasks, Danzhu's face instantly stiffened.
"Um, Doctor." Danzhu wore an ingratiating smile on her face. "Those jobs are really too much. And isn't Rin's matter the important one right now? I feel those jobs can be put aside for a while."
"Those studies are also very important." Mobius glanced slightly at Danzhu. "Besides, I alone am enough for Rin's matter. What? Can you not even do that kind of repetitive data testing experiment now?"
"Eh, no, no, no." Danzhu hurriedly shook her head. Finally, like a defeated rooster, she walked out of the laboratory. Yes, repetitive experimental calculations were indeed easy. But the problem was that once the quantity increased, it became a headache. And Dr. Mobius naturally wouldn't let them off so easily; the workload to be processed could be described as incredibly heavy.
But just as Danzhu was preparing to leave, Mobius suddenly spoke up: "Oh, right, Danzhu. Do you have any thoughts on that Irene? Especially the point about her being able to preserve your souls."
"Mm, gratitude?" Danzhu tilted her head, turning back to look at Mobius with some confusion. "Or very special? Mm, in what aspect does the Doctor want to hear my thoughts?"
Hearing Danzhu's inquiry, Mobius sighed and waved her hand, letting Danzhu leave. After Danzhu left, Mobius operated the computer to set up the upcoming procedures, letting the computer calculate autonomously for the time being.
Special. Danzhu was right about that point. Irene was certainly very special. Regarding carrying souls, aside from the Herrscher of Sentience, only Hua using the rated power of Fenghuang Down could do it.
Even Su and Aponia, these two psychic-type MANTISes, couldn't take other souls into their own bodies. At most, they could make themselves stay in other people's bodies, but they would soon be driven out.
But Irene was completely different. A full seven—seven souls staying inside Irene's body. And Irene clearly possessed the ability to actively absorb souls.
How could such an ability not arouse Mobius's interest?
________________________________________
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